Embassy Row

Kazakh promises

The ambassador from Kazakhstan faced strong opposition on Capitol Hill yesterday when he argued that his Central Asian nation deserves to lead a major human rights organization, despite charges that his government is run by an authoritarian president obsessed with expanding his power.

Ambassador Erlan Idrissov argued against “misconceptions” about President Nursultan Nazarbayevand insisted that energy-rich Kazakhstan has earned the right to chair the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) because of political and economic reforms adopted since it won independence from the Soviet Union.

“We are building a new society,” he told a congressional hearing. “We are going through a teething period and should have support.”

However Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, Florida Democrat and OSCE chairman, and Rep. Christopher H. Smith of New Jersey, the senior Republican on the panel, were skeptical.

They cited Kazakh constitutional amendments that effectively allow Mr. Nazarbayev, a former communist party chief first elected in 1994, to remain in office for life. They also complained that parliamentary elections in August created a one-party legislature.

“Kazakhstan has not yet made the necessary reforms,” Mr. Smith said, noting the “disturbing trend of creating a president for life.”

Mr. Nazarbayev “rules his country autocratically,” he added.

Mr. Hastings said, “Much is at stake here for Washington, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Russia and the OSCE, a security organization known for its promotion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”

He said he wished he could support the candidacy of an “energy-rich, moderate Islamic state eager to build good relations with the Western world,” but that “flawed elections, continuing human rights problems [and] a concentration of power” by Mr. Nazarbayev prevent his endorsement.

The OSCE, which has never certified a Kazakh election as free and fair, is due to meet next month in Madrid to decide on which member nation will chair the organization in 2009. Only the United States, Britain and the Czech Republic oppose Kazakhstan’s candidacy.

Robert Herman of Freedom House, which monitors human rights abuses throughout the world, dismissed Kazakhstan’s “tentative steps toward democratic reform.”

“Kazakhstan is a solidly authoritarian country that has none of the fundamental features of a democratic society,” he said. “To settle for a chairman … that flouts OSCE standards would profoundly weaken the organization’s work in support of democratic governance across the region.”

Evgenii Zhovtis, a Kazakh human rights activist, said he used to support Kazakhstan’s bid but has lost faith in Mr. Nazarbayev’s willingness to adopt democratic reforms. To reward Kazakhstan now “would serve as a poor example to other [Central Asian] states with authoritarian regimes,” he said.

David Merkel, a former top staff member of the National Security Council, supported Kazakhstan’s bid, saying the United States needs to reward the country for the progress it has made and prevent it from creating an alliance with China or Russia, which is trying to reassert leverage over the Central Asian nations of the old Soviet Union.

Story Continues →